Bill Text: TX SB2145 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to sonogram requirements for a pregnant woman seeking an abortion.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-21 - Referred to Health & Human Services [SB2145 Detail]
Download: Texas-2019-SB2145-Introduced.html
2019S0391-1 03/07/19 | ||
By: Hall | S.B. No. 2145 |
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relating to sonogram requirements for a pregnant woman seeking an | ||
abortion. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 171.012(a), Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) Consent to an abortion is voluntary and informed only | ||
if: | ||
(1) the physician who is to perform the abortion | ||
informs the pregnant woman on whom the abortion is to be performed | ||
of: | ||
(A) the physician's name; | ||
(B) the particular medical risks associated with | ||
the particular abortion procedure to be employed, including, when | ||
medically accurate: | ||
(i) the risks of infection and hemorrhage; | ||
(ii) the potential danger to a subsequent | ||
pregnancy and of infertility; and | ||
(iii) the possibility of increased risk of | ||
breast cancer following an induced abortion and the natural | ||
protective effect of a completed pregnancy in avoiding breast | ||
cancer; | ||
(C) the probable gestational age of the unborn | ||
child at the time the abortion is to be performed; and | ||
(D) the medical risks associated with carrying | ||
the child to term; | ||
(2) the physician who is to perform the abortion or the | ||
physician's agent informs the pregnant woman that: | ||
(A) medical assistance benefits may be available | ||
for prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care; | ||
(B) the father is liable for assistance in the | ||
support of the child without regard to whether the father has | ||
offered to pay for the abortion; and | ||
(C) public and private agencies provide | ||
pregnancy prevention counseling and medical referrals for | ||
obtaining pregnancy prevention medications or devices[ |
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(3) the physician who is to perform the abortion or the | ||
physician's agent: | ||
(A) provides the pregnant woman with the | ||
printed materials described by Section 171.014; and | ||
(B) informs the pregnant woman that those | ||
materials: | ||
(i) have been provided by the Department of | ||
State Health Services; | ||
(ii) are accessible on an Internet website | ||
sponsored by the department; | ||
(iii) describe the unborn child and list | ||
agencies that offer alternatives to abortion; and | ||
(iv) include a list of agencies that offer | ||
sonogram services at no cost to the pregnant woman; | ||
(4) before any sedative or anesthesia is administered | ||
to the pregnant woman and at least 24 hours before the abortion or | ||
at least two hours before the abortion if the pregnant woman waives | ||
this requirement by certifying that she currently lives 100 miles | ||
or more from the nearest abortion provider that is a facility | ||
licensed under Chapter 245 or a facility that performs more than 50 | ||
abortions in any 12-month period: | ||
(A) the physician who is to perform the abortion | ||
or an agent of the physician who is also a sonographer certified by | ||
a national registry of medical sonographers performs a sonogram on | ||
the pregnant woman on whom the abortion is to be performed; | ||
(B) the physician who is to perform the abortion | ||
displays the sonogram images in a quality consistent with current | ||
medical practice in a manner that the pregnant woman may view them; | ||
(C) the physician who is to perform the abortion | ||
provides, in a manner understandable to a layperson, a verbal | ||
explanation of the results of the sonogram images, including a | ||
medical description of the dimensions of the embryo or fetus, the | ||
presence of cardiac activity, and the presence of external members | ||
and internal organs; and | ||
(D) the physician who is to perform the abortion | ||
or an agent of the physician who is also a sonographer certified by | ||
a national registry of medical sonographers makes audible the heart | ||
auscultation for the pregnant woman to hear, if present, in a | ||
quality consistent with current medical practice and provides, in a | ||
manner understandable to a layperson, a simultaneous verbal | ||
explanation of the heart auscultation; | ||
(5) before receiving a sonogram under Subdivision | ||
(4)(A) and before the abortion is performed and before any sedative | ||
or anesthesia is administered, the pregnant woman completes and | ||
certifies with her signature an election form that states as | ||
follows: | ||
"ABORTION AND SONOGRAM ELECTION | ||
(1) THE INFORMATION AND PRINTED MATERIALS | ||
DESCRIBED BY SECTIONS 171.012(a)(1)-(3), TEXAS HEALTH | ||
AND SAFETY CODE, HAVE BEEN PROVIDED AND EXPLAINED TO | ||
ME. | ||
(2) I UNDERSTAND THE NATURE AND | ||
CONSEQUENCES OF AN ABORTION. | ||
(3) TEXAS LAW REQUIRES THAT I RECEIVE A | ||
SONOGRAM PRIOR TO RECEIVING AN ABORTION. | ||
(4) I UNDERSTAND THAT I HAVE THE OPTION TO | ||
VIEW THE SONOGRAM IMAGES. | ||
(5) I UNDERSTAND THAT I HAVE THE OPTION TO | ||
HEAR THE HEARTBEAT. | ||
(6) I UNDERSTAND THAT I AM REQUIRED BY LAW | ||
TO HEAR AN EXPLANATION OF THE SONOGRAM IMAGES UNLESS I | ||
CERTIFY IN WRITING THAT [ |
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___ I AM PREGNANT AS A RESULT OF A SEXUAL | ||
ASSAULT, INCEST, OR OTHER VIOLATION OF THE TEXAS PENAL | ||
CODE THAT HAS BEEN REPORTED TO LAW ENFORCEMENT | ||
AUTHORITIES [ |
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(7) I AM MAKING THIS ELECTION OF MY OWN | ||
FREE WILL AND WITHOUT COERCION. | ||
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________________________________________ | ||
SIGNATURE DATE"; | ||
(6) before the abortion is performed, the physician | ||
who is to perform the abortion receives a copy of the signed, | ||
written certification required by Subdivision (5); and | ||
(7) the pregnant woman is provided the name of each | ||
person who provides or explains the information required under this | ||
subsection. | ||
SECTION 2. Section 171.0122(d), Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(d) A pregnant woman may choose not to receive the verbal | ||
explanation of the results of the sonogram images under Section | ||
171.012(a)(4)(C) if[ |
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assault, incest, or other violation of the Penal Code that has been | ||
reported to law enforcement authorities [ |
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SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only | ||
to an abortion performed on or after the effective date of this Act. | ||
An abortion performed before the effective date of this Act is | ||
governed by the law in effect on the date the abortion was | ||
performed, and that law continues in effect for that purpose. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |